Saturday, December 15, 2012

Wolf Weekly Wrap-up

Posted: 14 Dec 2012

’06, a.k.a. 832F, “Queen of the Lamar” was killed by a hunter in Wyoming last week.

Reprieve for YNP wolves in Montana – At least
someone out West is listening to the concerns of wolf supporters.
Montana wildlife commissioners voted 4-1 this week to temporarily halt hunting and trapping north of Yellowstone National Park
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Montana’s decision followed public outcry from wolf enthusiasts and
scientists alike, after at least 10 Yellowstone wolves were killed by
hunters outside the park. The most recent victim was the alpha female of
the Lamar Canyon pack. Known to researchers as 832F and to avid wolf
watchers as ’06 (“oh-six”), she was highly visible in one of the most
popular areas of the park and became famous worldwide (see tribute from photographer Jimmy Jones). She also wore a GPS-tracking collar that allowed scientists to study her movements and better understand her pack’s behavior.
Unfortunately, wolf opponents are already complaining about efforts
to protect Yellowstone’s wolves, so we are encouraging Montana wildlife
supporters to thank the commission and Governor Schweitzer for
establishing these important closures. Please call or write:

We hope you will join us in thanking the Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks Commission for creating a buffer zone around Yellowstone, and we
need your help urging them to make it permanent. We’ll also be working
with our colleagues in the region to push Idaho and Wyoming to do the
same. These wolves are too valuable and important to continue losing
them.

Listen to an NPR interview with Yellowstone Wolf Project leader Doug Smith and our own expert
Suzanne Stone as they discuss the significance of losing America’s most
iconic animals:

Click here to listen to an extended interview about Yellowstone wolves with a panel of experts and advocates that aired on KCRW’s To The Point.

Also, be sure to tune in next week to the Jane Velez-Mitchell show on the HLN network to see our senior staff attorney Jason Rylander
talk about the latest developments! The show starts at 4 p.m. Pacific/7
p.m. Eastern, and Jason will be on in the second half hour.

Feeling the heat from all sides – USDA’s Wildlife
Services agency continues to receive harsh criticism for its lethal
approach to managing wildlife—this time from FOX News and a Republican lawmaker from California. Rep. John Campbell, along
with his colleague Peter DeFazio (D-OR), has accused the agency of
refusing to cooperate with an investigation of animal abuse. The
incident in question involved an employee of Wyoming Wildlife Services
who allegedly allowed his dogs to attack a coyote caught in a leg-hold
trap he had set. Campbell and DeFazio have called such practices
inhumane, and have said taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent to kill
native wildlife for the benefit of ranchers.

“We believe there’s kind of a pattern here that this
has become almost sport to put out these traps,” Campbell continued. “We
think there are a lot of non-lethal ways to protect livestock. But
instead, they use these leg holes, which are extremely cruel. The animal
takes a long time to die.”Campbell also said he has “increasing evidence” of taxpayer money
being used for “private purposes,” including protecting the livestock
of four private ranchers.“I have cattle myself,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it’s the
taxpayer’s responsibility to protect my cattle. That’s my
responsibility.”

Wolf killed on Spokane reservation – A lone wolf was
accidentally killed this week on the Spokane Indian Reservation after
getting caught in a trap set for other animals. Though wolves are
currently protected as an endangered species under Washington state law,
the rules only apply outside of tribal lands. The wolf is believed to
be from the Huckleberry Pack, which had at least five pups this summer
(see clip from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife).

We’ll be keeping a close eye on wolves in Washington and hopefully
working with the tribes to prevent more wolves from being killed
unnecessarily.

The film offers an abbreviated history of the relationship between wolves and people—told from the wolf’s perspective—from a time when they coexisted to an era in which people began to fear and exterminate the wolves.

The return of wolves to the northern Rocky Mountains has been called one of America’s greatest conservation stories. But wolves are facing new attacks by members of Congress who are gunning to remove Endangered Species Act protections before the species has recovered.

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Inescapably, the realization was being borne in upon my preconditioned mind that the centuries-old and universally accepted human concept of wolf character was a palpable lie... From this hour onward, I would go open-minded into the lupine world and learn to see and know the wolves, not for what they were supposed to be, but for what they actually were.

-Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf

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“If you look into the eyes of a wild wolf, there is something there more powerful than many humans can accept.” – Suzanne Stone